Daily Yellowstone journal., 1887-06-02
STUDENTS "STIFFS.'
NOW DlSSecTiNG MATERIAL IS
UTILIZED IN A MEDICAL COLLEGE.

Boom.
When Janitor Hicks and Assistant Mike
had rolled all the barrels into the inject
Ing room they took down half a dozen Of
the shelves and placed them on the floor.
AMER removing a cadaver from q barrel
they laid il out on the shelf, and then
raised the shelf to a table, where they left
II and turned to the mex subject. Before
ell the barrels were emptied they found
that there was not oom on the tables for
Ill of them, and Hicks accordingly pro-
ceeded to embalm those already laid out.
He performed this task precisely as he had
hundreds Of times before. He took down
. gigantic piston syringe and filed 1t with
o solution of plaster OF paris. This done,
he laid the syringe aside for a moment
while he made an incision with a surgeons
knife into the carotid artery Of the csdaver.
To get still further from technical terms
he cut a cash in the artery that run up
the neck where one may feel a strong
pulse beat. There are two of these arte-
ries, and Hicks, following his ancient in
structions, cut the left carotid. Some blood
flowed, but not much. Next he inserted
the end Of the syringe in the cash and
into the severed artery. Then followed a
hard push on the piston, which sent the
embalming fluid all through the body, IL
was evident very quickly, for the solution
Is pink, and in a moment the arteries in
all parts OF the body could be traced by a
pink line.
It is wonderful bow thorough this work
Is; generally one injection Of the solution
serves the purpose, and at the most two
- a,Ntsns CaAlsa-t fnr urhats IT,
keep the body in a state Of preservation
for the month or more that elapses before
the students get through with il. The
embalming properly done, Hicks and Mike
lifted the Shelf with the cadayer on il to a
place against the wall There IL was left
entirely nude and unmarked except by its
own blood from the accidental and intend
ed decorations il had undergone. Appar-
entity IL did not occur to Hicks or Mike 10
wonder what name il had borne in life.
They are no respectors Of identity. But
they represent their employers and do
their work in q ~methodical, businesslike
way, and the room they work in knows
nothing Of sex; IL is not recognized in in
animate flesh. The cadaver which stopped
breathing no more perhaps than thirty
hours ago, and which wa called a woman
until the heart ceased 20 beat, comes to
the injecting room simply as a structure
Of flesh, bones, nerves, tissues, limbs and
organs; il is pulled by main strength
from its barrel, gashed at the carotid ar
terry, injected with a solution Of plaster Of
paris, laid on its shelf 10 wait its turn,
uncovered and unconsidered, unless some
idle thought is bestowed upon il, as IL the
embaline2 were 10 wonder what student
would be lucky enough to get the head.
IN TIE ~DIssEcTING ROOM.
When Hicks and Mike had emptied all
the barrels and embalmed all the cadavers
they set about the next step in the pro-
Qess of the subject for dissection. This
was to transport the cadavers to the dis
secting room mp stairs. To do this they
required the assistance Of a student who
was at work in the building. A rope was
cast about the upper part Of a dead body
and tied under the arms. One man took
hold of the end of the rope and the other
Of the legs and trunk, and in this way,
with a good deal Of jolting against the
walls and stumbling on the stairs, they
got their burden into the dissecting room.
II takes about three weeks for a body to
10 through the dissecting room. As the
tables are kept pretty well supplied,
IL generally happens that a cadaver has TO
wait a few days i'm the injecting room for
q vacancy. When this occurs the profess
sor of anatomy posts a notice in the col
Iege to this effect: material for dissec-
ton viii be furnished TO the following
gentlemen on - day."
Then follows a list Of students whose
turn is TO avail themselves of the i~nvalua-
BILE privileges offered by the institution In
its dissecting room. From the list of stu
dents anybody can tell how many fresh
cadavers have been brought in, for the
number Of men on the list will always be
Q multiple Of five, and dividing this num-
Der by five will givathe number OF cadav-
ers. When the sttfdents report for mate
rial each one pays the clerk Of the college
81. This is not obligatory, and a man il
not compelled either to accept dissecting
material when his name is posted or pay
his fee. Most Of the students, however,
are eager TO ayail themselves Of the OPP
portunities. The fee Of 81 entities the
student 10 one part Of the cadaver, which
is divided into five parts-the head, the
right arm, the left arm, the right leg and
the left leg. Discrimination as TO the dis
tribution Of the respective parts Is made
according TO priority Of application.
REMOVING DEBRIS.
Five students then work together on a
cadaver. They may do all the work at
the appointed table in the dissecting room,
or, as many do, they may take their part
home and cut IL up there. Cases have &C.
CURED, though In violation OF n rule,
where a student, desiring to take advan-
tage OF a brief vacation and yet unwilling
10 lose time altogether in his study, has
packed an arm or a head into a travelling
bag and carried IL with him into another
state, and cut II up there In the intervals
of family fluctuations and reunions. IL
they do their dissecting outside Of the col
Iege building they make such disposition
OF the refuse ms seems TO them fit: most
Of them burn IL. The refuse il, OF course,
the tegument, muscles, arteries. ETC.,
which are removed from the part under
study. In case the work ia done at the
college all this is provided for; each stu
dent has a pan, OF slop jar, into which he
throws the tegument as soon as IL has
been removed, and the various muscles,
membranes and the rest follow IL from
day To day as the task of stripping the
bones progresses.
Now and then Mike makes the rounds
from tabl to teable with a larger slop jar
collecting the refuse. In this way he gets
q jar full Of pieces of the thirty different
csdavers and empties them into q barrel
When the barrel has stood several days,
growing constantly fuller OF human
refuse, IL gives forth a strong odor Of de-
<.v buf fbe efudeufa do mot mind IL nal
ttcularly, and Mike usually waits a good
convenient time for taking care Of IL.
what does he do WI ~ II is an inter.